The Enquirer’s Women of the Year award is bestowed on women who make Cincinnati a better place to live and work. The 10 exceptional women chosen for the 2023 Women of the Year award have led the way in conservation, civil rights, philanthropy, health and more.
The 2023 honorees will join the over 500 women recognized for their excellence in Greater Cincinnati since 1968. This is the 55th year of the annual Enquirer Women of the Year award, created to celebrate local women who better our communities through philanthropy and investing time and effort to improve the lives of others.
The award winners will be recognized at a luncheon on Oct. 19 at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati. Tickets can be purchased online at www.enquirerwoy.com.
Here are the 2023 Enquirer Women of the Year:
Roula Allouch – Allouch is a trial attorney at the Bricker Graydon law firm. Her passion for protecting civil rights, especially for Muslim Americans, led to positions with national advocacy organizations, including chair of the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights and former chair of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ national board. “Roula has been fiercely true to who she is, always advocating for others who may or may not be the same as her,” her nominator wrote. Allouch’s passion for law and youth mentorship intersected in her role as vice-chair for the American Bar Association’s anti-bullying committee. There, she focused on preventing cyberbullying and cyberstalking and helped present a resolution that pushed lawmakers to approve legislation enacting stronger penalties and investigation of these crimes. She serves local youth on the board of the Muhammad Ali Center in Northern Kentucky, where she was named a “Daughter of Greatness.”
Nancy Costello – Costello is a leader of Saturday Hoops, an organization dedicated to providing kids with positive role models and a safe space to connect through basketball. After the passing of her father and founder of the program, Ed Berg, she worked to expand the program across the city. When older kids attending the program brought their younger siblings along, Costello noticed that many struggled with reading skills and took the opportunity to establish a reading room. She raised funds to create reading rooms at all three locations of Saturday Hoops, where kids can interact with volunteers one-on-one while engaging with books that relate to them. Her motto “readers are leaders” became an award available to kids in the program who show the most enthusiasm for reading. “Nancy’s style is one of quiet leadership,” her nominators wrote. “She leads by example by showing up every Saturday for the last 15 years.” Costello was nominated by fellow Women of the Year 2023 honoree Anne Jaroszewicz.
Renee Mahaffey Harris – Mahaffey Harris is president and CEO of The Health Gap, an organization that works towards ending racial and ethnic health disparities across Cincinnati. She implemented the Do Right! Campaign in 2005, which provides families with resources to prevent obesity through nutrition and exercise. The campaign also increased access to healthy food by partnering with local corner stores and holding produce markets. After research with The Health Gap showed that the health of African American families relies on African American women, Mahaffey Harris launched the Black Women’s Health Movement. By creating educational resources on physical, mental, community and economic health, the organization empowers Black women to take care of their health. “She works tirelessly for the advocacy of Black and Brown people,” her nominator wrote. Mahaffey Harris also serves as president of the Ohio African American Health Disparities Coalition and co-chair of Cincinnati’s Racial Equity Taskforce.
Anne Jaroszewicz – Jaroszewicz is senior warden at Christ Church Cathedral, an elected volunteer position that serves as a connection between the congregation and church leaders. She oversees the annual Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival and was instrumental in ensuring it continued in 2020 when the pandemic hit by organizing a livestream of past performances. The festival brings together hundreds of volunteers, all of which Jaroszewicz manages. Also in connection with Christ Church Cathedral, Jaroszewicz has gathered financial assistance to send between 15 and 25 kids to summer camp every year. This is not the only position in which she serves Greater Cincinnati children. She volunteered at the Oyler School during the pandemic, with her mentee receiving scholarship offers and acceptance to Ohio State University. She is also a dedicated volunteer at Saturday Hoops, where she works alongside fellow honoree Nancy Costello to stock the Reading Rooms with books and ensure the spaces are comfortable and welcoming. “Anne is a connector and idea generator who seems to burst with new and creative ideas for serving ‘our kids,'” Costello wrote.
Danielle Lewis Jones – Lewis Jones is the first head of communications for Kroger Health and is a former senior media relations associate at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She is the founder of the Angel Baby Network, which she created in 2015 after the loss of her infant son. The Angel Baby Network provides families grieving an infant loss with an opportunity to connect with other parents going through similar circumstances. “The meetings allow us to celebrate our children with other families who can understand our pain while also working through the healing process,” said a nominator who participated in the program. Lewis Jones’ book detailing her and her husband’s story following the death of her son and other challenges serves as a further resource for struggling couples and parents. A 2022 book called “The Making of Cincinnati’s Black Lives Matter! Mural” was also co-authored by Lewis Jones, who was part of the team that created the mural in front of City Hall.
Gloria R. Lipson – Lipson is a co-founder of Social Venture Partners and serves on the board of trustees for the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati. After the mass shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Lipson knew there needed to be change. Her experience in social work and philanthropy, especially within the Jewish community in Cincinnati, informed her work in founding The Cohen Family Leaders in Light Institute. Leaders in Light holds a year-long development program for Cincinnati leaders that provides them with tools to combat antisemitism and extremism. It has become a national model for Jewish advocacy, with cities around the country following the lead of Lipson’s program. “When my colleagues in other cities asked me, ‘How did you get that done in Cincinnati?’ I told them that Gloria’s leadership paved the way,” said Jackie Congedo, a chief officer at the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust and Humanity Center, who partnered with Lipson to develop the program.
Jan Portman – Portman raised over $10 million as co-chair for the capital campaign of The CROWN, Cincinnati’s Riding or Walking Network. The CROWN is a 34-mile urban trail loop that aims to provide a safe and accessible connection for over 356,000 Cincinnatians to reach schools, parks, retail stores and more. Alongside her co-chair and husband Wym Portman, she coordinated events and continuously met with potential donors, exceeding the funding goal by more than 20%. Her work with The CROWN is part of a lifelong passion for conservation, which has led to serving on boards for national and global conservation organizations. Her involvement in Cincinnati also extends to the board of trustees for both the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden and ArtWorks. “Her drive to ‘support’ and ‘improve’ is not one of charity, but of a deep affinity, gratitude and reverence for the big world and our place within it,” her children wrote.
Deborah White Richardson – White Richardson is chair of Lighthouse Youth and Family Services. The organization provides trauma-informed resources for families and children, including mental health support and youth housing. White Richardson led its most recent campaign, which raised $4 million to launch a new residential treatment facility that houses up to 16 girls who have experienced abuse and trauma. She also serves on the board of trustees of Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and co-chairs its Leading Ladies’ Steering Committee, which she led to the highest donation amount in its history. White Richardson holds a position on the executive board of The Cincinnati Woman’s Club and obtained the highest level of funding for Cincinnati Union Bethel based on her research presentation about its preschool nutrition program. Her mother, Clarise White, was a 1977 Enquirer Woman of the Year and spearheaded work at the Lighthouse, The Greater New Hope Missionary Baptist Church and the Urban League that White Richardson continues today.
Samantha Searls – Searls is the program manager of Ignite Peace, which advocates for peace, just legal systems and non-violence. There, she has organized countless opportunities for education on immigration issues. She has arranged speaking engagements for immigrant youth and prepared low-income leaders for testimony to government leaders in Cincinnati and nationwide. Searls is responsible for building Ignite Peace’s Immigrant Dignity Coalition to 43 members who are dedicated to education and mobilization on local immigration issues. She is also a member of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Immigration Taskforce, where she guides task force members on the impact of legislation affecting immigrants in the U.S. “Samantha has been a tireless advocate for the immigrant community, seeking always to honor their dignity and strive for their respect while making sure they are in leadership for initiatives and programs,” said Andrew Musgrave, director of social action for the Archdiocese.
Marilyn Wall – As a member of the Miami Group of the Sierra Club, Wall has led efforts to prevent sewer backups and overflows of Cincinnati’s sewer system. Wall worked to find innovative solutions to proposals by Cincinnati’s sewer authority that would negatively impact residents. One of these solutions was clearing Lick Run to decrease runoff, and converting the space above into a park where residents could benefit from public resources instead of living amidst an open sewer. Wall also worked closely with residents in Northside to spread information on claim payments after a catastrophic sewer overflow. “I saw her arm herself with years of research and take concrete steps to compel action,” a nominator wrote. Wall’s work to prevent sewage overflows led to legal recognition that sewage in residents’ basements amounts to a violation of the Clean Water Act. Wall also advocates for clean air and founded Friends of Great Miami, the Environmental Community Organization and the Mill Creek Alliance in her efforts to champion the environment.
